Sybil Ludington was 16 years old when she rode 40 miles on horseback one evening in April 1777 to advise her papa’s troops regarding a British attack on Danbury, Connecticut.
A carrier from Danbury had actually ridden hard to bring information of the strike to Sybil’s daddy, Colonel Henry Ludington, that was in charge of the 7th Regiment of the Dutchess Region Militia in New York City State. He began calling his soldiers together today, yet it was late during the night and also they were spread around the region. The messenger was worn, so the colonel had Sybil– the eldest of his 12 children with partner Abigail– flight with the evening to spread the word to his guys.
The teenager took a trip with wet woods and also over rugged roadways till virtually dawn. Already, the majority of the routine had actually made it to the Ludington home. The British burned Danbury prior to the colonel’s men arrived, but his soldiers still battled the opponent as they left the scene.
General George Washington himself commended Sybil’s heroism, however her action wasn’t well known during her life time. After the battle, she married attorney Edmond Ogden, and they had a kid called Henry. Sybil died in 1839 at age 77.
Her late-night dash lastly emerged in 1907, when her great-nephew, historian Louis S. Patrick, released an article about it. Possibly partly many thanks to a 1912 poem that told her tale in a verse design comparable to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s well-known “Paul Revere’s Ride” (1860 ), Sybil became called “the female Paul Revere”– although she actually rode a lot longer distance than he did.
In 1975, Sybil was included on a UNITED STATE postage stamp. Today, you can see historic markers revealing her path; bronze statues of her on horseback stand in Danbury, New York’s Putnam Area, and also in other places. They function as enduring testimonies to the power of a teenage patriot.
